Writing Novels About Extraordinary Women

About Lilian

My oldest friend remembers me telling stories when I was five years old, but I didn’t decide to be a writer until I was ten. That was when I discovered not all authors were dead. My life took detours, as life will.

In my twenties, I despaired of ever being a real writer, because I was too tired at the end of a boring work day to write at all. Instead, I put boredom to good use and became a chartered accountant. As my own boss, I had a small consulting practise and wrote part-time in a garret, albeit a dry and relatively warm one. During that time, I signed up twice in a private (but written) contract with myself to see what I could accomplish in the next few years in return for a lot of penny pinching to buy myself time.

Alone in my garret, I had no idea that there was anything like a literary scout. So I was shocked to find out that the manuscript of my first novel, The River Midnight, had been leaked to German scouts. As a result of the buzz (which I thought had something to do with bees), The River Midnight was a prize-winning, national best-seller. It sold across North America, the UK and Europe in a matter of weeks, just in time for my wedding, thus enabling the purchase of her garret and the house around it.

Having learned the secret of success, I knew that writing my next book would be easy, fast and make piles of money, and that as a new mom of two perfect children, I would spin stories, change diapers, and in my spare time learn to speak Chinese. I did change diapers, many of them, I learned one phrase in Chinese, and took to my bed with the flu for a month while deciding whether I ought to give up writing altogether. Instead I got up and slowly wrote The Singing Fire, which garnered much critical acclaim and the assurance that I had avoided the second novel curse: “Toronto’s Lilian Nattel proves her debut was no fluke” (Nancy Wigston).

Now that my kids were toilet trained, life was obviously too undemanding, for I decided to embark in a new direction and write the most challenging book of my career. As a true optimist and slow learner, I again expected it to be fast and easy. The writing gods had a good laugh. Eight years and ten drafts later, Web of Angels was done. And I don’t care if the next one is easy or not because in the end the gods gave me a gift: Web of Angels is an important book and I was privileged with the writing of it.

P.S. I am now well into the next book–and it’s not easy! (I was secretly hoping it would be.) But I can’t wait to share it!

Welcome! There’s lots to see here: my books, free discussion guides, interviews, events, links. Subscribe to my blog or check out what I’ve been reading. See the positive news stories I’m following in the sidebar, see my journal posts or follow my photos on Instagram. Social links are just below. Enjoy my books! Enjoy the extras!

On a youngish woman riding the subway. She wore a winter coat, and blue leggings, and had a suitcase on wheels. Her shoes were so red and shiny, and the pointed toes–didn’t they squish hers? I wondered how she’d react if I asked to take a photo of her shoes, and then the train stopped, […]

Lilian

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In Positive News

Lilian’s Bookshelf

A fast engrossing read. I loved the narrative voice of a woman whose highbrow mode of expression is combined with social cluelessness, the result of trauma and isolation. The building of the story and the gradual breakdown of Eleanor's i...

Beautifully written, minimalist economy of style. A man retires to a remote cabin and a coincidental meeting brings back the memory of his youth, his father and a last summer spent in the seemingly idyllic countryside.